Seems Like It Hurt
by Andovia212
Summary: All those times Danny transformed in the basement, he was forgetting about the camera. Lucky for him his parents did to until months after his big reveal. How will they react to watching one of the biggest days in their son's life, though? I don't own Danny Phantom. XD Also: A certain guest reviewer should please watch episode 21 again. (I don't know how to do author notes)


Author's Note: So, I've had a little trouble with complaining about the dialogue with Sam causing Danny to go into the portal by peaking his curiosity. This scene is NOT made up by me. It is lifted directly from Episode 21 (Memory Blank). Also, that was meant to go into the description, but I ran out of room. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story!

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><p>"Jack, dear?! Can you come here please? Actually, Jazz and Danny come too," mom shouted from the basement. It had been about a month since they found out about my powers. They had taken it better than I had thought though I had to explain almost two years worth of fights. There were some things like The Dan Incident that I wouldn't tell them, point blank. They knew something had happened since they knew I got the answers by accident, but that was one thing I wasn't willing to share.<p>

I sighed, got up from my spot on the couch, and went downstairs. Dad was already down there, having run at top speed from the kitchen, and I heard Jazz coming down from her bedroom. Mom was at her computer with Dad standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder. I felt a small smile on my face before stepping aside and making a sweeping motion for Jazz to go first since I was blocking the way on the bottom step. She rolled her eyes but went ahead. I followed but froze when I saw my mom's computer screen. The picture was a paused one of Sam, Tucker, and me. In front of a non-operational Ghost Portal.

"Jack, I can't believe how oblivious we've been. We've never once looked through our camera feeds in all the time since Danny's accident! We've been horrible parents!" she fussed. I could see part of her reflection in the dark portions of the screen, and she looked about cry of all things. She noticed Jazz and I had joined them then.

"You guys are awesome parents, Mom. I feel like an idiot for never even thinking about that though. How could I forget we had a camera in here?" I smacked myself on the forehead but went over and gave my mom a quick hug from behind. She patted my hand.

"Wait, is this when I think it is?" Jazz asked suddenly, looking closely at the screen.

"Yeah, that's it. I-I'd rather you guys not watch it though." One of the other parts I hadn't told them was the fact that it hurt to high heck when the accident happened. I had simply said I passed out so as not to lie but not tell the whole truth. I didn't know how they would react to hearing me screaming at the top of my lungs though.

"Oh, you don't have to watch it if you don't want to, Sweetie," mom simply stated. She went to click the button.

"No, d-" I didn't have time to do anything else before she had pressed play.

_["Smile!" Sam basically commands before snapping a picture of Danny holding a white and black jumpsuit. Danny blinks hard from the flash._  
><em>"Okay, I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now? My parents could be back here any minute. Besides, they say it doesn't work anyway." Sam walks past him to get a better look inside.<em>  
><em>"Come on, Danny. A Ghost Zone? Aren't you curious? You gotta check it out!" Danny steps up beside her.<em>  
><em>"You know what, you're right. Who knows what kind of awesome, super-cool things exist on the other side of that Portal?" He quickly slips on the Hazmat over his cloths and takes a step closer to the Portal.<em>  
><em>"Hang on," Sam stops, a slightly annoyed tone in her voice. She rips off the picture of Jack from the Hazmat. "You can't go walking around with that on your chest," she explains, pointing at it as she talked.<em>  
><em>Danny looks at his friends once more before disappearing inside the Portal, out of the camera's range since it was up high.]<em>

I looked at the screen apprehensively, knowing what would happen in a few seconds. Whirling noises issue from the speakers, closely followed by my own ear-splitting screams, and the screen glowed bright green with the activation of the Portal. I winced at the memory as it played through my own mind. To tell the truth, I hadn't even been screaming my loudest like I should've been. Part of my mind had me holding back to prevent Sam and Tucker from worrying too much though it was fruitless.

I had expected the reactions I got from my family. All three severely jumped from the initial explosion of sound. Jazz stumbled backward, eyes wide with her mouth shaped like an "o". I had never told her it had hurt either. I caught her as she teetered backwards. My parents were both shell-shocked, rooted in place and unable to pause it.  
>I tried to stand Jazz up so I could turn it off, but she started to fall again. Neither Mom nor Dad seemed to be able to move, and I didn't want to just lay Jazz on the floor in case she passed out or something. After a full minute of it, there was a humongous <strong><em>BOOM<em>** from the speakers and the screen went a green tinted white and the screams cut off. The light disappeared as quickly as it had shown, revealing a terrified Sam and Tucker (tears pouring down Sam's face) staring at a motionless, slightly smoking, white haired figure in the middle of the room, having been thrown out when it activated. The Portal was now its classic swirl of green. Finally Dad seemed to come back enough to pause the video there. Jazz patted my hand robotically to tell me she could stand now.

I stood her up from the awkward position in my arms and met her eyes. She seemed concerned but that was mainly it. It reassured me that she wouldn't worry about me. She was logical enough to remember it was in the past and not hurting me anymore. Had made my life better, even.

"Mom? Dad? Look at me," I asked them, walking over and standing beside the computer table. Tears were silently falling down Mom's frozen face though Dad seemed to have more grounding than her at the moment as he tried to look at me. He looked away quickly, but I had seen the emotion in them. "Guys, this isn't your faults. It's not even Sam's fault. I'm the one who went into the Portal, knowing it could be dangerous, knowing how clumsy I am, and knowing I could get into trouble if you two found out. Just because you invented it, doesn't mean you did that to me. Besides, if the accident hadn't happened, imagine how boring our lives would be in comparison. I'd say we would've been destroyed, but that sorta.. Only happened because of a fight with Plasmius. Not my fault though! The crazed-up Fruitloop knew he was shooting at us near a fusion reactor." I hadn't meant to ramble as I did, but it seemed to work better as Dad looked back at him and met my eyes this time. Mom was blinking now though not moving otherwise. I sighed.

"Jazz, Dad, can I talk to Mom alone for a minute?" I requested. Jazz ushered Dad out, talking to him quietly though I could hear every word anyway. "Mom? Can you please look at me?" I half-begged. I put a hand on her shoulder lightly, and she jumped about a mile high then finally looked at me.

"D-Danny, why didn't you tell-?" she began to ask, but left the question hanging. I knew what she meant though.

"I did try to warn you not to watch it," I pointed out, but kept going before she could reply. "I knew you guys would blame yourselves if you found out it hurt. I've always been pretty sure Jazz assumed it was though. If you think about it, being half-ghost means I'm technically half dead. Well, actually, I haven't been able to figure out whether I actually am half of the ectoplasm-only kind of ghost or the 'odd manifestation of ectoplasm and post-human consciousness' kind of ghost." I knew I was rambling again, but it really did work as Mom chuckled at me quoting her.

"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure which you are other, Hon.. Oh, well, guess we'll probably never know. I am curious, but I'd probably have to ask you questions about-" Mom began but ended by looking back at the screen. Fresh tears filled her eyes. I leaned over and clicked the little red "X" in the top corner to close out of the viewing program. There were thousands of files, each showing twelve hours of footage. I clicked somewhere else to get rid of the highlight in hopes she wouldn't remember which file it was. Mom looked back at me.

"It's in the past now, Mom. It can't hurt me anymore. Well, I'll correct myself by saying it can hurt me if I act like a complete idiot and try to remove my powers again, but that's sooooo not going to happen. Though it didn't hurt nearly as much when I got them the second time, despite that being done by hundreds of ghosts beaming me with plasma at the same time." 'Dangit, more rambling! You just told her something she didn't have to know, you idiot!' I yell at myself in my mind. It had worked once again, though. Bringing Mom out of her reverie, this time with a curious yet concerned look in her eyes.

"I want to hear they story sometime. And... still... I'm not sure anyone can go through so much pain and still be alive, yet that seems like something that can't be undone how you did it. And... I suppose having something bond with your very DNA on the smallest level possible would hu-rt, too," she analyzed though her voice cracked on the word "hurt". I sighed again.

"Mom, listen to every single word I'm saying. It is in the past. Yes, it was painful, but I wouldn't change it for the world, even if I could. Okay?" She smiles slightly at the slow tone I had used considering it was done with some of my signature sarcasm.

"Alright, I'll try to keep that in mind. Although, what is keeping me from grounding you for lying to me about this?" she quipped sternly.

"I didn't lie! I... Just... Didn't tell the whole truth. Subterfuge. I told you guys I passed out which I did do." Her gaze seemed to go through me, but I kept myself from shifting under it out of stupid pride. The part of my mind making me do it saying 'You're not about to be scared of her! Not even Danny Phantom's mother is gonna scare him!' I snapped at my own mind to shut up.

"I guess I'll make an exception this time. Anymore and you **will** be grounded though. If it continues too much, then we might just take a leaf out of the fruitloop's book and short out powers. Okay, young man?" Her voice was stern, but I could see through it enough to know she wouldn't actually short out my powers. She wasn't kidding with the grounding part though. I nodded, knowing I probably would go against it eventually, but I could always try to follow it. "Good. Now, let's go make sure your father is fine."

"Eh, I'm sure Jazz has him to his usual self by now. She probably confused him, hugged him, and he was fine." I chuckled and so did Mom.

"True." She smiled at me then, obvious pride mixed with a touch of sadness. "I'm so proud of you, Danny. You've done so much for everyone for nothing in return. I couldn't have hoped for a more selfless son." I did shift that time and mumbled something under my breath, way too low for her ears to be able to pick out. She saw my mouth moving though. "What was that?" I sighed, knowing I might as well say it.

"I said, 'I'm not as selfless as everyone thinks.' I've done quite a few selfish things and most of them have almost caused disaster. More than once they almost caused the end of the world. You'd think I'd have learned from the first time, but apparently not." I may have been expecting her to fuss at me for putting myself down, but I didn't expect what she actually did. She stepped over to me and lightly smacked the back of my head. It didn't hurt at all, but the message was clear.

"Don't you even think about putting yourself down, Daniel Fenton. The most selfless people in the world do selfish things now and again. Nobody is perfect, and you know that very well by now." Then she pulled me into that special type bone-crushing hug that only a mother can give to her children. I smiled, completely happy for the first time in a while. Despite everything, I had the love of my family. Enough to last my entire life and more.


End file.
